"An Accurate use of words improves our thinking. Words give form to our thoughts so that we can make use of them. Words enable us to communicate with others and ourselves. Know the words for things and experiences helps us see and percieve more" (63).~ Marlys Mayfield Thinking for Yourself
What does Mayfield mean in the quote above? What connections can be drawn from the quote to "Saved?" How did you discover the importance of expanding your vocabulary?
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73 comments:
The quote by Marlys Mayfield says that the more words used correctly are beneficial for thought and communication processes. Words are powerful in that the more vocabulary understood, the easier it is to form connections within the world and internally. To truly understand the meaning of each word or object will give the mind clarity and freedom, enhancing all aspects of communication and life.
Here are some connections that are drawn from the quote by Mayfield and “Saved.” Malcolm X increases his reading and writing skills upon learning new words from the dictionary. He learns the correct meaning of words and discovers vocabulary he never knew existed in the world. This empowered his thought process, making him connect with books he read and the world around him. Malcolm X states, “With every succeeding page, I also learned of people and places and events from history.” (p. 73). Despite Malcolm X’s imprisonment, he feels a sense of freedom and clarity through the knowledge of words. This has given him the chance to understand life experiences on a deeper level.
Growing up on the streets of East Oakland, I had very few opportunities to succeed. It wasn't until I was in my early twenties that I was blessed to meet wonderful individuals who inspired me to progress in life. I started to discover the importance of expanding my vocabulary through reading and writing experiences at school and work. When I was employed at an Executive Search Firm in the mid 1990’s, I worked with well-articulated and educated individuals. At times during conversation or email correspondences, I would not understand the accurate meaning of words or ideas. I was very insecure about this and wanted to move past it, so I went back to school. At school, my insecurities became apparent again, especially with English classes. I was asked to read essays and books that I could not comprehend. Like Malcolm X, I skipped over words and had little understanding of what I read. I still struggle with this process in that words are very challenging for me. However, I can say it is getting easier, especially with the help of great teachers that educate the importance of critical thinking and looking up words that are unfamiliar to you. I can say I am more diligent with the new words and the dictionary.
Marlys Mayfield is basically saying that words are power. Once you know what people are saying around, what is being written, and how to say something back, you have power. Mayfield is also pointing out that words are a tool of organization. Anyone can rant and talk non-stop but as the author says "words give form to our thoughts..." Words help us speak for ourselves rather than take what someone else wants us to think and say.
Malcolm X applied Mayfield's thinking expertly. Malcolm X felt inferior to others because he couldn't legibly write and couldn't read. His life as a hustler showed people what he was about, but now in prison, he had no way to express himself. Copying the dictionary by hand not only gave him a thought base but also gave him improved thinking. He saw that he was in a plight, but being in jail couldn't stop him from obtaining knowledge.
I was thrilled to see Malcolm X's example for this post, because my father would always give me the exact example of X copying a dictionary and making himself a learned man, by his own means. I have always looked at knowledge that is something that no one can take away from you. In that category, once you strengthen your vocabulary and learn new words, no one can make you unlearn those words. It's impossible. I would watch my dad talk about politics with his friends and I wanted to talk like them, using big words like 'jurisdiction' and 'constituency'. This motivation helped me read old literature and political books and helped me expand my vocabulary.
Mayfield emphasizes the importance of using precise words. To some extent, seeking accurate words can help us to expand our thoughts. For instance, when we are looking for some words to describe our thoughts, we need to take a closer look at the object. Then, we may find something we didn’t notice before. In this way, words improve our thinking. However, more importantly, our thoughts rely on words. Without words, thoughts are just abstract ideas in our mind. If we want others to understand our thoughts, we need words to “give form” to them. Actually, it is words give us the ability to communicate with each other. Thus, using words accurately can help us to exchange thoughts better.
According to the short essay, “Saved,” Malcolm X used to be a hustler in street. He seemed have no problem with daily conversation before. But when he did some reading in prison, he found that he had troubles with understanding books because of limited vocabulary. However, after he learnt a lot of words from dictionary, he could fully understand ideas in the books.
Limitation of vocabulary has always been my weakness. I still remember that I spent almost two days on my rough draft because of my trouble with using right words to express my ideas. The weakness hurts not only my momentum in reading and writing, but also confidence of keeping going. I realized that expanding my vocabulary was very important. Dictionary is good tool for learning new words. I tried once to learn vocabulary from dictionary; but I gave up after reading only two pages. It is much more difficult than it looks.
Mayfield is saying that improving our vocabulary makes us better thinkers. We open our minds to a new world of knowledge and understanding. Like what Malcolm X did during his imprisonment, he was able to learn and grow from new vocabulary words. It also helped him convey his thoughts and feelings. Mayfield wants students to understand that thinking critically requires an expansion of our own word bank, since it "helps us see and perceive more" of what writing is all about. Malcolm X discovered "a new world" ,he began to read works of literature just from copying words and knowing the definition by using a dictionary. One can achieve a lot from being in prison. This is when I realize the importance of vocabulary, it's a way to express yourself and being able to understand others. Everything in today's society comes in the form of words, being a way to communicate and receive information. A bigger vocabulary leads to a sense of empowerment. From the president to corporate owners, they are able to persuade and led people by using their words. Nobody wants a leader that can’t articulate themselves.
Hi Fan Wu,
I can relate to your story about spending two days on a rough draft. I have done that in the past as well. I would sit in front of the computer for two days with a mental block, trying to express myself. I would constantly beat myself up because I did not know how to articulate my thoughts. It definitely gets easier though, and confidence builds as you put forth the effort to look up words and learn them.
I think we can all see ourselves in Malcolm X's position. I agree with you when you wrote that X thought his speaking style was great, but when he started to look up words and became conscious of his limited vocabulary, it was a wake-up call for him to strengthen his word usage.
I believe Mayfield’s quote means that the correct understanding of how to use words and having correct definitions of words enhances our abilities to decipher or analyze while thinking. Words shape our thoughts before a person may use the words to speak, read or write. Words allow us to be connected to one another through expression of communication. Evaluating words for their true meanings and relating these words to personal experiences gives us more insight to perceive.
The connections from the quote to Malcolm X’s “Saved”, are how Malcolm X states while he was in prison he acquired the need to increase his vocabulary and writing due to the letters he received and wanted to write. He expressed how challenging it was not being able to express his thoughts or feelings in the letters he wrote. Malcolm X stated, “I could for the first time pick up a book and read and now begin to understand what the book was saying”(pg. 63). Words and thoughts go hand and hand. Understanding words allows us to read or think with clarity and provides us with direction for what the writer is trying to convey.
I feel I am constantly discovering the importance of expanding my vocabulary. Being a college student I am constantly increasing my vocabulary on a regular basis. As a parent of two daughters I am also assisting my children with increasing their vocabulary. I believe that a person can never stop learning something new. Expanding my vocabulary I feel enriches my mind, heart and soul and empowers my intellect to articulate myself when I am speaking or writing.
To Fan Wu,
I agree that when your range of vocabulary is low that the momentum of what you are reading or writing is slowed down. This can make you lose thought and understanding of what the writer is trying to say or the ability to have a constant flow when writing, which enables you to communicate what you are trying to say more precisely.
I think Mayfield says that words are the key to success in life. We must have a good knowledge of words and know how to use them correctly. Words are important because we need them to express our opinions and thoughts and be able to communicate and compare with others. Once we grasp a good knowledge of words, then we can discover the world and learn more about everything.
This quote is connected to "Saved" because Malcolm X believed it was important for himself to be able to learn new words. In the beginning, Malcolm wasn't able to express himself through his letters because he didn't know many words. After reading and copying down the dictionary, he was able to learn new words, new definitions, and new people, places, and history events.
I discovered the importance of expanding my vocabulary when reading. Last year in high school, I had to read the book Hamlet. It was one of the most difficult books I've ever read because of the complex language. I also needed to expand my vocabulary when writing essays. I needed to learn to use the write words in order for the reader to get a better understanding of what point I was trying to make. I also realized that I had to expand my vocabulary when listening to music. One of my favorite artists is Nas, and a lot of times he writes complex lines that takes time to comprehend. I needed to learn new words so that I could understand what he was saying in his music.
The more words we know, the better we express ourselves. I think the quote means that the abundance of vocabulary enables people to remember complicated stuff easily and to factually describe things, events, and theories to others. For the article, I think “saved” means “keep in mind”. While saving new words, Malcolm also saved new facts into his mind. I am proud of my speaking skills in Chinese. Thanks to my abundance of vocabulary, I can easily deliver much information to others. After I arrived in the U.S., however, my speaking skills disappeared. I kind of admire Malcolm who had a change to be locked in a room with countless books and infinite time. He could red whatever he wanted without a time limit. If I had not classes I would locked myself in a library.
The quote by Marlys Mayfield means that using words correctly enrich our thoughts and open our minds. Words are powerful. When we involve in conversation, we are using words to perform that we are knowledgeable and we also use words to persuade other audiences. The more accurate the word we use, the more smooth we can perceive.
Experiences Malcolm X had are kind of similar to Marlys Mayfield’s quote. Malcolm X learned words by copying dictionary to his tablets. He said that he found a new world open to him after he could read and understood more. Marlys’s quote also notices this--improves our thinking. Writing is different from speaking because we can use slang but in formal writing, we cannot; thus, we have to extend vocabulary. For example, while Malcolm read books in prison, he found it was hard to understand the idea of the book because of lacking of vocabulary.
Since I am an immigrant from China, I have suffered a lot due to limitation of vocabulary. While I am writing essay, I have ideas to state but it is always hard for me to find exactly words to explain my idea and my feeling. I tried many ways to improve my vocabulary such as using a dictionary. But I gave it up quickly because it was tedious and hard to remember. So far, I don’t find any efficient way to memorize vocabulary; probably, there is no such efficient short-cut.
Response to Phillip:
Phillip said: “Everything in today's society comes in the form of words, being a way to communicate and receive information.” I think the situation is very interesting nowadays. On one hand, medium are getting more and more multiform. Television and Internet give audiences videos which record events more directly and vividly than words. On the other hand, literal medium, like newspaper and books, are getting a better sales volume. This is because people have better education than before. So I think the fact is more and more things come in the form of words today.
In her quote, Mayfield is trying to say that words are essential in critical thinking. Words are the building blocks for our thoughts and are our best tools for expressing ourselves to the public. Without words, all we would have are opinions, ideas, and thoughts that no one else would know about. Using words help materialize our thoughts and make them concrete so that we can use them to share with everybody. This makes it possible for everyone to understand what we think and to think for themselves. With a good enough vocabulary, we can fully understand what people think, which enables us to think understand the message that they are conveying to us and to better transition our thoughts.
In "Saved," Malcolm X was " increasingly frustrated at not being able to express what [he] wanted to convey in the letter that [he] wrote." He was able to command attention with his spoken vocabulary that he used in the streets, but he was unable to translate that same attention in what he wrote in his letters because he lacked the proper amount of english skillls and vocabulary in order to do so. He decided to teach himself how to read, which paid off by expanding his mind to not only a wider range of vocabulary, but understanding as well. He was able to understand both what words meant and what the writers thought. With his vocabulary and ability to understand words, he became enthralled in reading and kept reading to learn, which helped him reach a higher level of thinking and understanding.
I discovered the importance of expanding my vocabulary when I was in high school. I took advanced english courses that required me to expand my vocabulary not only so that I would present myself in a formal and professional manner on paper, but also so that I could express myself with more precision. I needed a better vocabulary so that I could have a better all-around writing style that allowed me to easily express myself.
From Mayfield's quote,"words enables us to communicate with others and ourselvers",means that without using the correct word in the proper way,communication is null or not complete, people might not understand what we mean.It is important that we use the right words and learn on the application to avoid confusion.Mayfield qoute try to emphasis on how important words are in our lives,starting from thinking, communication and also perceiving our dreams.
Comparing Mayfield qoute to Malcom X's "saved"both connects on the importance of words in communication.It's out of frustration that lead Malcom X get a dictionary, because he was not able to convey the message in the letters he wrote to Elijah Muhammad.
Having English as my second language, and also five more, it was a challege for me to communicate to others in English.Sometimes I was getting frusrated like Malcom did.I had to put more efforts to do well in word connection.My father was an icon of inspiration to me and he challeged me with his vocabularies, so I had to spare more time in learning how to write by reading novels to improve my English.
Thanks for your encourage and advice. I do believe practice can help me a lot in expending vocabulary. For me, I just need more patience to keep doing it.
I like the way your father helps you to improve vocabulary. Family, I think, is a very good resource to learn English. However, first-generation immigrants, include me, usually are not able to use this resource, because our parents do not speak English at all. So, I think, improving English is a little bit harder for us. Since English is also a second language to you, do you have any advices or, maybe, tips in improving English?
The quote from Mayfield states the importance of the use of vocabularies. It’s easier to communicate with the others and to understand to our surroundings if we know more vocabularies. Sometimes, knowing a word doesn’t mean we really understand and could use the word properly. Through using different vocabularies, we could express our thoughts in a clear way and give detailed explanations to enable someone in understanding the perspective of things.
In “Saved”, the author Malcolm X narrated his story of how he turned himself to be a literate person through self-study. He thought he was an “articulate hustler” in the street; however, he was frustrated once he realized himself could not express properly in the letters he wrote. During the time in the prison, he was motivated by admiring someone’s talent and he started to pick up a dictionary to study the new words. Finally, he was able to read and write. The quote from Mayfield have a big connection with the essay “Saved”, they are obviously sending us the same message of the significant in knowing new words from reading and studying, so that we could express ourselves and experience more in life.
Just like his case, I am usually facing the difficulties in expressing my viewpoints in words. I am frustrated of using very limited vocabularies in writing, so I would repeat the same word frequently in my essays. As immigrants, insufficient knowledge in English vocabularies becomes a barrier in acquiring opportunities. So, I truly understand the importance of expanding our vocabularies enables us to accomplish our goals in the future.
The quote from Marlys Mayfield means words are powerful and treasurable, especially precise words. Moreover, Mayfield mentioned that a precise word is a helpful tool for us to think and discover an object clearly and deeply. Because words are the bridges for us to communicate with people and ourselves, we can express our opinions through using precise words. Also, we can absorb more knowledge by using and understanding more precise words/
The connections that can be drawn from the quote to "Saved" are the author's attitude about learning words and the experiences that he had during his learning. Because the author wanted to know and use more words in writing and reading, he copied words from dictionary and reviewed the words over and over. Finally, he could understand a lot of words and he could express his opinions very clear by using precise words in his writing. Consequently, these points are the connections can be drawn from the quote to "Saved".
To me, after I came to the United States, I discovered the importance of expanding my vocabulary when I had to look for the meaning of words in a dictionary many times during reading an article. Since my word-base are very narrow, I often can not understand a reading even though I have a dictionary because I don't know the precise meaning of the words. According to this reason, I discovered that I have to expand my word-base and read more to understand the precise meaning of vocabulary. Also, I think the expanding of my vocabulary can help my thinking of an object because when I know more words, and I could understand that object clearly so that I could think it deeply.
to Fan Wu,
I agree with your point which is very difficult to use a correct and precise word to express our opinions. Furthermore, sometimes the limitation of vocabulary could stop our confidence in writing and reading. That's why I totally agree that we have expand our word-base from dictionary and our daily life.
Mayfield overall pinpoints the significance of using felicitous words in expression of thoughts. I construe the quote into two sub-components: the augmentation of vocabulary and the logical word-selection. On one hand, the abundance of vocabulary enables individuals to further develop their thoughts with the proprietary terms that fit the best to the contents. On the other hand, appropriate selections of words from all the available ones may help reduce the confusion and complexity of the text, thus facilitating individuals to mutually communicate their thoughts. For instance, if we are supposed to persuade a dissenter throughout critically thinking, then reflective and convincing dictions are certainly preferred, where abundant vocabulary is required. Simultaneously, we must consider that whether those dictions or combinations of dictions are too complicated to understand – this refers to the situation where logical word-selection capability becomes necessary.
The success that Malcolm X had achieved precisely substantiates the quote from Mayfield. Malcolm X’s previous life experience as being a hustler had indeed provided him with the essential language skills in normal conversations, but not any when dealing with formally written literatures. He later decided to expand his vocabulary by coping words from dictionary, when he found difficult to comprehend the ideas of the books. Since then, he may gradually understand the text and its idea more and more easily – according to Mayfield, “words enable us to communicate with others and ourselves.”
Vocabulary has always become one of the primary barriers in my journey of learning English. The limitation in vocabulary causes my unconfident feeling while expressing my own thoughts in words, because they might be distorted if inappropriate words are used. Honestly, I had attempted several times in the past to force myself to memorize certain number of vocabulary everyday, but they all ended up with failures. My reflection from such experience reminded me to actually use those words, besides merely memorizing them. I consequently discovered that expanding vocabulary is not a milestone for recording how many words I remember, it is rather to try my best to get familiar with those words, know their meanings, and ultimately apply them in future literature writings or even daily conversations.
I agree with your thoughts. It’s hard for us to describe our ideas in words or to communicate with other people by knowing limited vocabularies. I also tried to understand the words through using dictionary; but, I would forget them easily, especially the words we seldom use.
I totally agree with you. The limitation of vocabulary often frustrate me a lot. When I hear someone else talking something, I can understand or guess what they are talking about but if I want to express some opinions, I always need time to organize what I am gonna say and check "am I using the wrong word?"
I believe most have felt like Malcolm X did during his years in prison, learning to write. When a person is in the presence of other person it is easier to rely on facial expressions and hand gestures to communicate a message. However as Marlys Mayfield states the more words we learn the better we can understand and explain what is happening around us.
Until the age of six I grew up living with my mother's parents in Amboise, France. When they past away I was sent home to the U.S to live with my father. I knew how to speak, write and read in french and because it was part of the curriculum in school I also knew how to speak and understand English. After having an oral interview with the principal I was placed in second grade. On the first day we had to write about what we did over the summer. English was my last class and I had done well so far in history, math, science and computer science. My description of my summer was written in four simple sentences. It took me the whole fifteen minutes allowed to come up with them. When I got back to my seat after putting my paper on the top of the pile, my teacher began to lecture on how we were no longer in first grade and that we should be able to write at least a page of writing. During reading I was the only one in my class placed in the slow reading group.
I barely passed second and third grade. Finally my fourth grade teacher took an interest and helped me with my reading and writing.
According to the article, I found that the power of the “word”. In fact, people try to share their opinions, experiences and feeling through writing. I think that is the power of words comes from. In most people’s deep heart, we would like to figure out something we didn’t know, try to understand that. Like what Malcolm X did during his imprisonment, try to use the dictionary to find out the words meaning. After he knew lots of words, he started to use the words and practices. Like most people of us, when we learn a new word, we use the metal to figure out the meaning. Like we use the books, internet and the dictionary in order to better understand the meaning. Furthermore, people would like to change their thinking and believing when they have a different agreement. When we first met the different things in your mind, your first feeling you would not accept it. In fact, it takes about more times to keep read it and understand it. After that, your mind may have two opinions and they would fight each other. As more as you read it and try to more understand it, you would have a total different feeling.
Shukun Li
I agree with you that knowing how to use words appropriately is more significant than memorizing the terms. I was precisely enlightened from today’s lecture with the fact that: although some words may be defined in certain ways that fit our thoughts, they are not proper to be used in our writings, because those definitions might not be what the recent society accepts. The way that I suggest to expand our vocabulary is to first memorize the words, and then practice using them in real life.
I am very agreeing with you Yiline. In fact, I am not a good English speaker and writer. Even though we learn English as we went to school; it’s hard for us (immigrations) to speaking and write English well as the negatives do. We have a litter bit environment to learn and speak English. Our rescores are limited. For example, I try to make friends who was ABC( American born Chinese). However, it’s hard for us to communicate with each other. Even we look like the same, our culture have a little different. Sometimes, he could not know what I was talking about. Like he try to tell me a funny story, but I could not get the funny points. Like I try to tell him a funny story about Chinese-English, he also could not get my points. That make me felt unhappy because that’s the distance between him and me.
That kind of situations also occurs in me personally. I understand that synonyms have always been one of my favorite things that I am addicted to use in writings. Doing so may consequently create me a sense of creativity while expressing my thoughts. However, I agree with you that if improper synonyms or vocabularies are used, then rather than creativity, it will generate more complexity and confusion for the readers to understand our texts.
The quote by Marlys Mayfield indicates that the importance of the words. The vocabulary is formed by the society changed, and the history makes it fluently used. It gives us a standard modification so that we are able to communicate with others.
The beneficial of the learning more vocabulary is the connection that are drawn from the quote by Mayfield and “Saved". Malcolm X's vocabulary skill is far beyond the eighth grade education because he increased his reading and writing skills during his prison period. He found that the dictionary was like a miniature encyclopedia. The efforts of copying the pages came step by step, and Malcolm could use the words he never knew before.
As a immigrant as I am, enlarging my English vocabulary is very important to me. The more words I know, the more thoughts I can express. Because of the limited vocabulary that I learned from my high school education in China, I felt frustrated at not able to say what I want to convey when first time come to the U.S. In order to increase my vocabulary, I read the English novels and newspapers with a dictionary. To get started is very difficult since I needed to look up 2 or 3 words in almost every sentence, and it took me really a long time to go through the whole article. But as I went on to do this, it came out a little bit effort because I can read the articles faster since I know more words. This process is a long-term journey, but the results that come out will encourage me to continue to overcome my language shortcomings by learning more words.
Hi Fan,
I agreed with your opinion that "Without words, thoughts are just abstract ideas in our mind". Words give us a standard form to express our feelings and thoughts in a way every one can understand. Even we can communicate in body languages, hand sign language, the communication in words is the most accurate meaning of our thoughts and is the least misunderstanding.
I liked how you said "In fact, people try to share their opinions, experiences and feeling through writing. I think that is the power of words comes from. In most people’s deep heart, we would like to figure out something we didn’t know, try to understand that." I couldn't agree with you more. The more words we know the better it is for us to explain our thoughts and let people know how we feel or see the world around us.
I believe what Mayfield's quote is trying to say is that to improve our thinking and learning skills we must master the english language and all the words that come with it. Basically the more words you know how to use properly the easier it is for you to perceive and understand things going on around you. It also helps you communicate to the people around you.
The conncections I can make with "saved" to this quote is that Malcolm X found out for himself how important increasing your vocabulary is. He learned that by finding new words and learning about words that he never knew about. It expanded his mind and allowed him to think more critically.
Personally, my mother allways encouraged me to read as a child, and i allways enjoyed reading. I never really thought about how much reading helped me with my thinking and communication. Now that I think about it my childhood reading was probably the reason I had sucess in school till i was about 13. Incidentally this was around the time i stopped reading. I watched alot of television and played video games. I dont think it was a coincidence that my grades suffered during this time. I truly found out the importance of expanding my vocabulary when I was 18 and took my first college course and could not understand a thing we were reading. That's when i figured out that to keep up I needed to improve my vocabulary.
Imagine the brain as a knife, waiting to be honed. In this case, well-chosen words replace the whetstone, sharpening our intellect with repeated use. Also, words act as mortar and concrete, from which to build a solid foundation for our intellectual development. “Words enable us..,” to develop more efficient interpersonal communication skills to help us interact with our environments ( Mayfield 63).
There are several connections that can be made between the Mayfield quote and Malcom X’s “Saved.” First, Malcom acknowledged that his limited vocabulary hindered his ability to communicate with others including Elijah Muhammad. Next, by transcribing the dictionary page by page, Malcom improved his thinking and communication skills.
Finally, Malcom’s improved vocabulary provided structure for his thoughts.
I discovered it was important to keep expanding my vocabulary because enabled me to communicate with individuals who are more advanced than I am. It is a humbling experience when you get “schooled.” Fortunately, those individuals were gracious with me.
Racquel to Philip:
"A bigger vocabulary leads to a sense of empowerment." What a statement! I could not agree with you more. A bigger vocabulary can make one seem "scarier" to others, however it is what we do with our knowledge that makes the difference.
Based on my understanding from the quote by Marlys Mayfield, using words correctly benefits us while we empress ourselves and communicate with others through writing. As Marlys said, words are powerful as they are able to pass on a message from one to another, times over times, which help share experience and develop critical thinking.
In Malcolm X’s “Saved”, we can learn that in order to improve his writing skills, Malcolm slowly copied out the whole dictionary pages over pages, starting with the word “aardvark.” With an expanded vocabulary, he began being obsessed with reading and copying vocabulary that he even didn’t know, staying up half the night to study in his room. “You couldn’t have gotten me out of books with a wedge.” (P.73). He admitted that reading made him feel “truly free” in his life as he “learned of people and places and events from history”. (P. 73). In my opinions, Malcolm X was “saved” due to the fact that broadening word-base helped him a lot in perceiving the information the books he read in prison. Throughout reading books to improve his self-education in prison, Malcolm X successfully pull himself out the life of street hustling in addition to the change of the view of the world and the attitudes toward race.
Shortfall of word-base is one of main barriers that block my mind and stop my improvement of my writing. Every time a good idea comes up in my mind, I experience the difficulties of choosing right words to express myself. Besides writing, limitation of my vocabulary just stays like a huge wall that prevents me from getting writers’ ideas when I read. Probably dictionary is the best tool to clear off this “wall”, however, whenever I look up word on it and try to remember to read it in detail, I become feel tired and sleepy, then I give up. Instead, I use electronic dictionary that maybe another problem in expending my word as its context contains not much explanation as those in a regular dictionary.
Pei Liang
Hi Fan Wu,
I agree with your points that “thoughts rely on words”. Word seems like, or probably is the basic and unique skill for the human beings. Date back to our babyhood, our parents only could guess what we want because we could not speak out and told them what we really need. On the other side, words bases on thoughts; words contains what are in our mind that we want to share with others.
The quote by Marlys Mayfield means that using words correctly can expand our thoughts and overcome our fear in writing and communication. There are unlimited words that we can use, but how we can use them correctly is another question. For us, the limitations of vocabulary always restrict our thinking because without the understanding of a word we always cannot think deeply and express our ideas thoughtfully. Since we know how to accurately use words, we can communication proficiently with others and express our ideas with others. Once we involve in a conversation, we can share our opinion with others. The more we use words, the more we will get used to them. And this will be able to improve our skills.
In “Malcolm X saved”, Malcolm recognized that getting to know more new words will enable him to gain more knowledge. Once he is in prison, he was very frustrated that he could not even write in a straight line; therefore, he realized that he have so many words to learn and also learn the ways how to use them correctly. First, he copy the words from the dictionary, and read aloud ; however, even though he is so confused about at the beginning, he keeps constantly to learn because of his limited vocabulary.
I discover that expanding your vocabulary will enable us to write thoughtfully and well communicate or share our ideas with others. The main reason we do not dear to share with others is that we do not want people to laugh at us once we make mistakes. Therefore, the limitations of vocabulary always restrict our action in conversation. But the more we perceive, the more we will get comfort with ourselves.
I totally agree with you.
Memorizing the meanings of words will not indeed improve our skills because sometimes we will get confused with how to use them in proper ways. however, getting familiar with them can enforce our confidence in communication; thus we will dear to express our thoughts.
I think you wrote your comment eloquently and I agree with you as far as Mayfeild's qoute in relation to Saveed.
Mayfield is saying, to know the exact meaning of the words you use improves our thinking critically because you come to think about how the meaning of what you're saying will effect and affect a person or situation or how you want to get an idea or message across effectively. Words give way to who we are and how think and how we may be can be of use to something. Words help us look deeper within ourselves and others. Words can bring clarity. Words reveal truths amongst other things. Words expand our worlds and can take us to another place, with words we gain awareness, understanding, knowledge and sometimes wisdom. Words can save lives and sanity and in the case of Malcom X, words did. During his imprisonment words saved his sanity as well as served as an escape. He found freedom in words although his freedom was restricted by bars. From words he grew. Words helped him gain a new perception of life.
Mayfield's saying that by expanding our vocabulary, we improve our ability articulate our thoughts. If not, we can't communicate with others effectively and convey what we want to say.
The connection between Malcolm X's "Saved" and Mayfield's quote would be importance of vocabulary and ability to articulate your thoughts. By coping off of dictionary and expanding his vocabulary, Malcolm X "opened new world".
I know for a fact that my vocabulary is poor. I've always had problems when it comes to writing and word choice. Even when I talk I often stumble upon simple words. And I would spend hours staring at blank paper, trying to write down at least one coherent paragraph.
Solongo to Phillip:
I like the part where you said rich vocabulary gives you sense of empowerment. It is true that politicians and other leaders can persuade and influence people by their speech. They are excel at articulating their thoughts and communicating with others effectively.
Mayfield's quote is emphasizing the fact how powerful words can be. We can be the most insightful people on earth, but no one would notice if we can not express ourselves. Our words and our vocabulary are the main ingredients that make our thoughts come to life so we can inform, teach, preach, persuade, or communicate. We need a good vocabulary, so we can understand other scholars and absorb their knowledge.
In Malcolm X's "Saved" he was infuriated that he can not express himself in writing. He was able to speak from the heart with public speaking, but unable to do so in his writing due to his lack of vocabulary. However, he did show the truth in Mayfield's quote. Malcolm X understanding his own flaws, he started to self-teach by reading the dictionary. Not only was he able to broaden his vocabulary, but he was able to find his passion for reading to quench his thirst for knowledge. By expanding his own vocabulary he was better fitted to communicate with his peers and to pursue a higher education.
I discovered the importance of expanding my vocabulary as i start to mature as a young adult. As i took one English class after another, my ideas as a writer started to develop with life experiences. With essay i wrote, i soon understand that i need to expand my vocabulary to help elaborate and express my" thoughts. If i wanted to become an insightful writer, i need to improve my vocabulary to communicate with different audiences and adapt to different writing styles.
Marlys Mayfield pointed out that the more vocabularies you learn, the more intelligent you are. Understanding more vocabularies can help you easily get connected with the society and be able to express yourself. It also demonstrates that you have received a higher education thus shows you are on a higher level. Similar to "Saved", he could hardly express what he wants on letters, so he decides to improve his writing skills by copying new words everyday from the dictionary. Now he succeeded his life by his work as a provocative thinker. Both of the quote pointed out how important vocabulary can be in your life. I finally realized that the importance of expanding my vocabulary, because it is very difficult sometimes when you try to express something, but you couldn't find a right vocabulary to express exactly what you having in mind and other people might misunderstand it.
Hi Fan Wu,
I agreed that how not understanding vocabulary makes people lost confidence, especially taking guess of vocabulary in reading. Most likely people would end up getting the wrong meaning and confused the whole meaning of the reading. I tried to copy words from the dictionary like "Saved" did, but i gave up on the fifth word in the first page of dictionary. It is really hard and because it requires a lot of patient.
I have the same trouble as yours which is having limited vocabulary. I am always afraid of the in class writing because of my weak vocabularies. As an immigrant in The U.S., sometimes I have ideas to state, but I could not express it well since I could not find exactly words to explain my ideas and feeling. Therefore, I agree with you. Vocabulary is important.
The quote stated by Marlys Mayfield means that the more advanced our vocabulary is the more we can make connections to the things we often read. Not just having an advanced vocabulary helps us make these connections, but using the words in accurate ways. In our everyday life different types of words helps us with everything and the better vocabulary we have the better it is to speak to others.
The connections that can be drawn from Marlys Mayfield's quote and Malcolm X's "Saved" is the connections between having a good vocabulary and a terrible one. The example in "Saved" of skipping over words when you don't understand them makes it harder to get a vivid picture of the story your reading. By Malcolm taking the time out to better his vocabulary not only made him a better reader but also gave him better communication skills. This all connects to Marlys quote because "the accurate use of words improves our thinking".
To Anna Davies:
I 100% agree that when you grow up in a bad environment you don't have that many chances to succeed. Until this day i cannot stand reading and writing but i want to continue to find out why and how i can become better at these things. What gave you motive to go out and find inspiration because i highly think i need it?
Mayfield is suggesting that words are the main components to improving our thinking ablilities. Words allow us to translate our thoughts and ideas into writing. A piece of writing is made from the use of many words put together as a way for us to communicate with each other. Through writing, we are sharing a part of our life experiences with the rest of the world.
In "Saved" Malcolm X was a prisoner who learned about the importance of words and writing. During his time being imprisoned, Malcolm started to teach himself by reading and copying the dictionary which helped him build his vocabularies and improved his reading abilities. Looking through the different words in the dictionary and memorizing it, he was able to expand his knowledge and understand what he was reading. Malcolm was able to connect to the world through the books he was reading and the letters he wrote which enabled others to connect and communicate with him.
I realized that expanding my vocabulary was necessary to improve my english skills. At times, I would have problems with understanding the context and main ideas while reading because of words I was not familiar with. Now I know that in order to understand what I am reading I have to read critically and look up words that are challenging.
This quote means that improving and having more words can help you to increase our reading skills, writing skills, and communication skills; it can help you to understand the correct meaning and describe our thoughts well and truly. I remember in one of my speech classes, the teacher said that even if you have a good idea, you cannot express it well to people, it means that you have nothing. It is only a good idea for yourself, not others, because you cannot let people understand what your idea is. Therefore, having more vocabularies is very important to improve our life skills and thoughts.
In “Saved”, words gave power to Malcolm. Words made Malcolm feel powerful and changed his life. In prison, he found that he could not find exactly words to explain his ideas while he was writing, and he could not understand well while his was reading. He realized that the importance of vocabulary. Therefore, he tried to learned new words from dictionary to improve his vocabulary. After that, he found that he not only improved his vocabulary, but also improved his thinking and writing. As the quote above also stated that words can improve our thoughts.
Hello Fan,
I do agree with your idea that words are important in writing. As an immigrant, I try to improve my English by reading novels,newspapers and use a dictionary for every new word that I encounter.It is important to write them down and keep on reminding yourself each day.Always have a pocket dictionary with you.I hope these tips will help you.
Hello Rui,
I totally agree with you that having new words improves our thinking, writing skills and communication.As you said, that one can have a good idea but it might be difficult to convey the message, the same case applied to Malcom X.He wanted to convey messages to Mr. Elijah but no one was able to understand them.He became frustrated and this lead him to discover a dictionary.
The quote by Marlys Mayfeild says that the use of words is a method to help improve our thinking. If we take the time to challenge ourselves and learn new words it can be helpful towards communicating with individual and ourselves. Words allow people to communicate and the more words we know will expand our vocabulary.
In Malcolm X “Saved”, he was a prisoner who was unable to express his feelings in writing. Instead of wasting his time in prison he begins to learn on his own through a dictionary and build his vocabulary through learning new words. From learning the words in the dictionary, Malcolm’s knowledge grew. He became a powerful man.
After reading Malcolm X “saved”, I realize that it is important to expand my vocabularies in writing, thinking, and speaking. Also, I can learn how to build my knowledge through learning new words, and it will allow me to become a better critical thinker.
I am not the best person at communication. Could be I need to know more words so I could be better at it. Knowing the perfect word to say is a joy and if you are the person who is listening, understanding the message is also a joy. When I am leaving my house in the morning I do not tell my boyfriend I am abandoning him, I just say I am leaving. They both mean the same thing "leaving" is what I mean.
Learning the dictionary was a great place for Malcolm X to begin his education. Knowing all the words that you read gives a person wings to take flight throughout literature, history, and also in the conversation. Words can really expand your universe on many levels. Knowing more words really has helped my writing. I used to be such a crummy speller but with the advent of "spell check" if I can get close to spelling it right then I can right click and pow! Its spelled right!
I think right now I am discovering the importance of expanding my vocabulary. So many times I have been misunderstood or ineffective in my written word or conversation.
I think that Mayfield says what Malcolm X also found to be true. That knowing more words give you a greater ability to perceive the world around us as it is being seen through someone else's eyes. Opening your mind to perspectives other than your own.
I really enjoyed reading your post Misty. "Words can bring clarity." Sometimes when I am confused I say I am seeking clarity. I need just a bit more information to clear the confusion in my mind. Awesome post.
Hi Rui Mai, I am afraid of in-class writing too! I can have a lot of ideas in mind; but, without the help of dictionary, I justs connot express them through words. That is why I think expanding my vocabulary is very urgent and important.
The quote By Marlys Mayfield says that the more words we are aware of the more we can benifit from knowing them. words are extremly powerful and are nessary for communication and thought process. We open our minds up to new possibility's by expanding our vocabulary. Accurate use of words can let you better understand or precieve anything.
The connections I drew from " saved" and Mayfield are once Malcolm found out new words he was better able to articulate himself to Mr. Elijah Muhammed. That goes back to how mayfield says we "words enable us to communicate with others and ourselves". Also the more he learned new words the more eager he became to learn.
My discovery came about when I stared reading as an hobbie in high school. I was introduced to new worlds or writing and sometimes became fustrated when not able to understand. I knew that i wanted to know more meanings and use of them. Words are so powerful that you can either have an positive or negative effect on yourself or other with them. I want to always be able to articulate my feelings and such forth.
In Marlys Mayfield quote she means every word has a meaning to it, it is our duty to use words correctly and understand them. Also understanding words gives us an advantange of visualize what someone is saying, whether when a person is talking to one or in their writings. In "Saved" by Malcom X, he was so dissapointed when he began to read in prison because he did not know any of the words in the books was reading. He felt as though it was a different langauge, but he didnt give up and he began to copy the dictionary to expand his vocabulary. He was determined to gain a better vocabulary, when he did, he began to read more because he knew what every word meant. This relates to Mayfields quote because without knowing words and their meanings its difficult to communicate with others or get an understanding of a writing. Knowing the meaning of words will improve our thinking.
The way I discovered the importance of expanding my vocabulary was my first year of college because I felt discouraged during class conversation and my vocabulary was not at every one of my peers level. Every one seemed smarter than me because the way they put their words together and used them. I was determined to develop a better vocabulary, I began to read more books and the newspaper. For each word I did not know or looked unfamiliar to me, I looked it up the meaning in the dictionary. Also, I used the thesaurus to have the synonym for each word I used. I am still working on improving my vocabulary, and it slowly but surely getting there.
Alisha to Pink:
I think you bring up good points. I also want to broaden my vocabulary just to be the best. Also, the joy words can bring to a person are priceless. You dont know how a simple "hi, how are you" goes a long way. I really enjoy ready your insight about our blogs. your totally cool.
The quote by Marlys Mayfield is saying that words are important in our everyday lives because we use them in a way to expree our ideas and thoughts. We must expand our word vocabulary in order to better ourselves and our knowledge.
In "Saved" Malcolm X learned new words and added them to his vocabulry , but at first Malcolm didn't know a lot of words. He took the advantage of learning new words on his on. I plan to expand my vocabulary by the time I complete this class to help better my knowledge in the future.
Hey Fan Wu, we have the same idea about the ideas and thoughts just being "absract ideas" and that we have to give "form" to them. After all, without giving them a form, we will not have an efficient way to relaying what we have to say to everyone.
Mayfield's quote to me meant that the expansion of knowledge can release the shackles. It can open the door to adventures both physical and mental (through books and other readings). The window of opportunity is wide open to you and those you communicate with. A storage of words can stimulate your senses, move you from level to the next and offer you trips from one culture to the next. Knowing leaves you envigorated, confident and ready for the next challenge be it a book, essay, writing a letter or speaking with a CEO of a company you want to work for.
There were many connections in the text "Saved" that to me was an extension of Mayfields quote. The first thing I highlighted was Malcom epiphany when hearing Bimbi's stock of knowledge brought a envious feeling. I think that freedom is evident in people, confidence can be contagious and it rubbed off on Malcolm. Learning words at his age was like learning a new language but the more he became familiar with his "new world that opened" through his new found friend (vocabulary expansion) the more it engaged him. He had a desire to be better. He replaced his old dialect with the key to minds all around the world. He inspired me, with phrases like "stock of knowledge" instead of "a whole lot", "engrossing" instead of "the shit" "feigned sleep" instead of "faking". His description of how he felt peeked my curiosity, as I read I looked in the dictionary searching words that were unfamiliar. His engagement with the dictionary made me want to get to know it more.
The desire for expanding my vocabulary has always been there. I can't tell you how many dictionaries I have, "words to know" pocket books, I even have dictionaries for spanish, cosmetology and animals. But I can honestly say that I have not taken my need to increase my vocabulary as serious as I am now. Hearing about the dictionary in class the other and how it was set up really inspired me. Hearing how Malcolm copied the entire dictionary made me want to get out a few tablets and my dictionary collection. Words fascinate me but the ones I don't know sometimes intimidate me. Malcolm did not let that stop him, he went full speed ahead abosorbing all that his brain could hold....and I plan on doing the same.
Plus I can see now that spell check is NOT my friend, it handicaps you. The dictionary makes you read, giving all that you have to learning and remembering the new addition.
From my understanding, i think Marlys Mayfield is trying to say thatu using the right word help us to think better.using A precise word can give us the right idea when thinking question.if we ask a question and use some inadequacy words, people can easily misunderstand your question. And word is the most basic thing when we communicate with others. we can say out a word eaily when talking , but we don't really understand deeply the meaning of the word. this is why we sometime use a inadequacy word. using the right can easily can help us to get the right idea.In Tread Malcolm X"s "saved" it 's about how malcolm X learning and using the accurate words in his writing by reading the books.He found out the that words are special, they can give you a variety ideas when the word comes together.I discover the importance of exanding vocabulary when i writting an essay. I feel helpless when i can't not express what i want to write about.i have the idea in mind , but i can't state with the word i want.In this time , i feel the iportance of abundant vocabulary in writting.
To Jen Christopher
I agree with your saying that a person can never stop learning somethig new. In our life , we need to keep learning to upgrade our knowledge.To fullfill idea when we thinking. If we stagnate or stop learning, we can not get the new idea and make progress.
Hey Meuy!
I liked the way how you analyze Mayfield's quote especially the part where you said "Words allow us to translate our thoughts and ideas into writing. A piece of writing is made from the use of many words put together as a way for us to communicate with each other." To me, speaking to a peer is much more different than addressing your peers in a piece of paper. I find that you can naturally communicate with your peers through public speaking, but it is much more difficult trying to use words in writing to address your peers. Thus, it is crucial that we expand our vocabulary so we can clearly communicate with one another through writing. The other part that i had a connection with was when you said how challenging some of the context the readings in an English class can become. I find that i have the same problem where there are many words that i do not know which stops me from understanding the main idea of the reading. Before i look up a dictionary i try to reread the sentences and the ones before that to see if there are any clues in helping me solve what the mystery words mean. Usually that works wonderfully, but once that does not work i like to look up a dictionary so i can understand the given passage and learn a new word in my arsenal.
What does Mayfield mean in the quote above?
Marly Mayfield choose to use "Malcom X Saved" as an example to illustrate how power words can be when formulating a structure to critical thinking. the power behind the way in which one chooses to express a thought he further examines how the mind consumes vocabulary and allows it to be a used as a tool in various situations.when used in its fullest context.
What connections can be drawn from the quote to "Saved?" How did you discover the importance of expanding your vocabulary?
the connections that were drawn from the quote introduces the strength in reading and writing. With Malcom X his choice was to read the dictionary from front to back and thus it became a beneficial and was delivered with strength. In Malcolm
I experienced that exact feeling when listening to music. I have to listen to the song a few times until I'm able to understand what the artist is trying to convey. That's their tactic to get more people to listen to their music.
Hello Martin,
I agree with you because I felt the same way not being able to expand my vocabularies during my first year at Laney College. But, I realized that it was important to expand my vocabulary in my writing. Also, I am determined to build my vocabulary skills as well. In fact, I have started to read books so I can look up words that I do not understand.
Marlys Mayfield is saying that a larger vocabulary means a larger understanding. And with that understanding, we may also learn. We can use our understandings to form and share our ideas and opinions. With a larger vocabulary and the greater sense of understading and thought, we can allow our life experiences to fully "sink in".
In "Saved", Malcolm X's minimal education produced a small and narrow vocabulary. This went hand-in-hand with his inability to express himself. But, after lots of hard work, his vocabulary expanded. And so did his power.
I've discovered the importance of expanding my vocabulary numerous time throughout my life. Whether it's writing a paper or talking to a friend, there have been many moments where I'd wished I'd had a thesarus at hand. To this day, I still find new ways in which an expanded vocabulary would do me good. And I'm sure, even as my vocabulary grows, I'll still be seeing it's importance.
-Julie Kvalen
to Chanda Aliese...
I love the way you describe knowledge! An adventure, a window of opportunity... I feel envigorated just reading about it!
-Julie Kvalen
To San Ming,
In response to your comment, I too agree that it is more difficult for us to write down in words what we want to say in writing rather than speaking it aloud. I believe that it is not easy to find the right words to express our true thoughts and feelings exactly as we imagined, but it is possible if we are open to learning and expanding our vocabularies to better ourselves. For me, when I stumble upon a word I am not familiar with I try to see if I can break it down to smaller words that I know of and go from there.
Hey Martin, I agree with you because I felt the same way too. My vocabulary wasn't and still isn't as good as my classmates. This discouraged me to participate more because I was kind of afraid of not being able to say the right things and create a good conversation. That's why I'm also trying to improve my vocabulary through reading articles and even listening to music. It's also still progressing, but I still have a long way to go.
Mayfield quote is saying that when knowing words we can improve our thought and improve us to be better thinkers. Without words it would be hard for us to express what feel and how we think. Just like how we understand a concept of something but without the words we wouldn’t be able to explain it.
There are some connections from Mayfield quote with “saved” by Malcolm x. When reading Malcolm x story he was able to learn new words from a dictionary. Malcolm X has a tough time trying to express his feeling and thoughts which made it tough for him because he didn’t have the words for how he felt. Knowing words, he was able to think much clearer about things.
I remember when I was in First grade, my brother who was in sixth grade during that time wanted to torture me and actually made me read the dictionary and he got my parents to agree which they force it on me to read and memorize the word and vocabulary. I was only able to remember the first page of A and after that I refuse to go on. But as Malcolm X brought up how he remember seeing aardvark on the first page of the dictionary It also made me think back when I went through something like that.
To: Julie Kvalen
i like how you said how malcom x vocabulary expanded as well his power. It kind of comes to show what you can do with such great knowledge.
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